Whether you’re looking for model-off-duty or red-carpet-ready coverage, the benefits of a carefully curated foundation wardrobe knows no limits. The right foundation can say sayonara to the activities of the night before with the ability to enhance your natural skin tone, making your complexion instantly alive, healthy and radiant.
Assembling your wardrobe: Where to begin?
Consider what it is you want from your foundation; is it light coverage for a natural look or more coverage for a flawless finish. Are you looking to cover blemishes, colour-correct skin tone or is it mineral foundation you’re after to keep the bumps at bay?
Tips for choosing a foundation for your skin type:
For Dry Skin: A hydrating foundation. Stay away from powder and mattifying formulas. They’ll zap your skin of oils, leaving your skin looking dry and chalky.
For Oily Skin: An oil-absorbing foundation. Look for buzzwords like ‘oil-free,’ ‘mattifying,’ or ‘shine-reducing’ on the foundation’s packaging.
For Combination Skin: A foundation with silica beads and lecithin. The silica beads soak up oil on your t-zone (forehead, nose & chin), while the lecithin hydrates dryer areas like your cheeks.
Bobbi Brown suggests looking for foundations that have a slightly yellowish cast to them, “This may surprise you, but whether you’re pale or dark, you have some yellow undertones in your complexion. A yellow-based foundation will blend beautifully into your skin tone.”
Next, swatch your skin:
In natural light, make a stripe of the foundation from your cheek to your jaw line, and gently blend it into your skin.
Now do the same with another foundation that’s one shade lighter and another that’s one shade darker.
The shade that’s imperceptible should be your pick, but double-check it against your forehead, since some women tend to be darker here. If it works in both areas, you’ve picked a winner.
Now you’re ready to select your foundation wardrobe:
Bobbi Brown is a commercial partner of RESCU
